II. Excessive Use of Force and Indiscriminate
Killings by the BSF

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) justifies the killing
of suspects by claiming that they were evading arrest, or that they had to fire
in self-defense. However, in the cases investigated by Human Rights Watch, the
alleged criminals were armed with nothing but sickles, sticks, and knives,
commonly carried by villagers in the area. The police reports filed by the BSF
seldom mention injuries received by the BSF’s own personnel which suggest
that the border guards may have used lethal force instead of attempting arrest.
In a number of cases, the victims were shot in the back, indicating that they
may have been shot while running away. In others, injuries indicating victims were
shot at close range, support allegations that they may have been killed while
in custody.

Section 46 of
India’s Code of Criminal Procedure states that it is permissible to use
“all means necessary” when a person attempts forcibly to resist
arrest, but it also clearly forbids causing the death of a person who is not
accused of an offence punishable by death or a life term.[49]
Cattle-rustling is not such an offense. In other words, under domestic law,
while authorities may use force to detain such a suspect, they cannot use
lethal force to do so. However, no international law or standard permits the
use of lethal force on the grounds that a person is suspected of a crime that
carries life imprisonment or the death penalty. BSF members violate domestic
and international laws when killing Indian and Bangladeshi nationals.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and
Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials calls upon officials to apply, as far as
possible, non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms.
Even in self-defense, intentional lethal use of firearms is permitted only when
strictly unavoidable in order to protect life. Officials are required to
exercise restraint and “act in proportion to the seriousness of the
offence.”[50]

A former BSF official told Human Rights Watch that about a
decade ago orders were handed down to shoot at suspected smugglers at the
Bangladesh border. The official said that the assumption underlying the policy
was that it would deter such illegal activities. However, he agreed that those
orders, instead of serving as deterrence, are now causing deaths.[51]

Attacks
on Bangladeshi Nationals

According to Odhikar,
between 2000 and September 2010, over 930 Bangladeshi nationals were killed in
the border area by the Indian BSF, including at the international frontier in
the state of West Bengal where we did our research. Below are some recent cases
that were investigated by Odhikar in collaboration with Human Rights Watch for
this report.[52] These cases provide evidence
of the BSF’s failure to use proportional force to address the alleged
crimes.

Killing of Farid Hossain

Farid Hossian was a rickshaw puller from Sharialjot village
in Panchagar district of Bangladesh. On February 5, 2010, according to his wife
Rina Khatun, the 23-year-old father of two left home at around 11:30 p.m. On
February 6, 2010, at around 8 a.m., she heard from other villagers that Farid
had been killed by the BSF during the night.[53] Rina’s
brother-in-law Faruq said a man collecting stones near the river Mohananda had
been told by the BSF that a man named Farid Hossain from the Sharialjot village
had been shot inside Indian territory, and asked him to inform the family.

According to Mohammad
Zahir, a cattle-rustler, Farid had offered to go bring a cow from India. Zahir,
Farid, and five others crossed over through the Kazipara border by cutting the
border fence constructed by the Indians.[54]
They then went to Haptia village near the Indian Haptia BSF camp:

While returning, we were chased by the BSF. All of us were
able to escape but Farid hid in a tea garden. On February 6, in the morning, I
heard that Farid had been shot to death by the BSF. I was summoned by the BDR
Camp Commander where I admitted all the facts.[55]

On February 6, at 7:40
p.m., the BSF handed over Farid’s body at a flag meeting.[56]Mohammad Niyat Ali, an older relative of Farid Hossain, attended the
meeting. The BSF said that an autopsy had been conducted, and provided the
report which said there were bullet wounds to the chest. The Bangladesh police
then handed the body over to the family for burial.

Niyat Ali suspected that Farid had been tortured because
there were injuries and broken bones.[57]
However, Odhikar also interviewed the BDR camp commander Abu Baker Siddique who
said that the body had severe scratches all over his face, which had been
caused by a dog probably used by the BSF to chase suspects.

The BSF Camp Commander, Nirodh Kumar, alledgedly told the
BDR that six or seven persons were seen cutting the border fence. When the BSF
chased them, the group scattered and ran away. While the others escaped, Farid
hid in a tea garden. The BSF used a trained dog to track Farid down. The
soldiers shot him as he tried to evade arrest.

Killing of Shyamol
Karmokar

Naren Karmokar, a resident of the border village of
Bishroshiya in Chapainababganj district, said that his 17-year-old son, Shyamol,
wanted to visit his aunt who lives in Malda, India. However, since the family
could not afford a passport, there was no legal way to enter India.

On January 24, 2010, Shyamol left home without informing his
family. The next morning, at around 10:30 a.m., Naren Karmokar received a call
from Shyamol, who said that he had crossed illegally into India, but had not
yet reached his aunt’s house:

Everyone in the family was worried… We were relieved
to receive his call. I told him to come back without visiting his aunt. I also
told him to return alone, and warned him not to take any help from cattle traders.
Shyamol called me on January 26 to say that he would be back the next day and
that he had found a Bangladeshi who would help him. At around 3:30 a.m., I
heard gun shots near the border and immediately became anxious about Shyamol.
Around 5:30 in the morning, Zahid came to our house and told me that Shyamol
had been shot dead by the BSF.[58]

When Naren received Shyamol’s body from the BDR on
January 29, he saw that his son had been shot three times, in the abdomen,
chest, and neck.[59]
According to Mohmmad Zahid, who was helping Shyamol cross the border, the BSF
opened fire without warning:

I work with Abdul Mannan and Milon at a rice mill in
Bangladesh, but sometimes we also work in the cattle business. That day we were
bringing two cows to Bangladesh. I had told Shyamol to meet us near the border,
and at around 3:30 a.m. we started the journey to Bangladesh. We had two cows
with us. Milon, who was the lineman, arrived an hour earlier. Soon after we
reached near the border area, the BSF spotted us and immediately opened fire.
Shyamol fell on the ground, while Mannan and I ran away. I don’t know
what had happened to Shyamol after that… Once we entered into Bangladesh,
I went to Shyamol’s house with Mannan to inform his father.[60]

A flag meeting was held on January 28, 2010, when the BSF
handed over the body to the BDR. Odhikar spoke to Subedar Sirajul Islam, the BDR
Camp Commander at Wahedpur about the death of Shyamol Karmokar. He stated that
in their investigation they found that Shaymol was a barber who hitched a ride
back home with cattle traders. The BSF claimed at the meeting that they had
assumed Shyamol was smuggling cows into Bangladesh. For that reason, according
to the BDR Commander, the BSF was justified in shooting him.[61]

The local police said that Shyamol was killed when the BSF
opened fire upon a group of cattle-rustlers to which he did not belong.
“It is one of the most unfortunate incidents that happened in this area.
This boy was innocent but was shot just for walking with cattle traders,”
said Yameen Ali of the Shibganj Police Station.[62]

Killing of Nazrul Islam

Around 5 a.m. on January 22, 2010, Nazrul Islam, a
40-year-old laborer from Baribaka village in Meherpur district was shot and
killed by the BSF as he tried to cross the border fence between India and
Bangladesh.

In the evening of January 21, Nazrul Islam had told his
wife, Surjan, that he planned to help some cattle traders bring cows from India
to Bangladesh. Before dawn the next morning Surjan and other villagers heard
shots being fired near the border. Surjan told Human Rights Watch that she
immediately suspected that her husband had been shot. Five months earlier,
another cattle-rustler had been killed by the BSF. One of the villagers
confirmed shortly afterwards that her husband had been killed close to Nabin
Nagor village.[63]
When Mohammad Ershad, a cousin, heard about the killing, he went to the area
and saw Nazrul Islam’s body tangled in the barbed wire of the border
fence.[64]

Surjan said that Nazrul used to work as a day-laborer. But
since the money he made was not enough to support his wife, two daughters, and
an elderly mother, he also took to cattle-rustling to pay off debts and the
mortgage on their land.[65]
According to Nazrul Islam’s son, Tutul, his father used to cross the
border three or four times a month to smuggle cattle, and was able to make
about 500 to 1000 taka (USD 7-14) each trip.[66] Nazrul Islam had
apparently gone that morning as well, but had been spotted by the BSF and shot.

On January 23, the 92nd
Battalion of the BSF handed over Nazrul’s dead body to members of
BDR’s 32nd Battalion. According to a BDR commander, two
bullets hit Nazrul in the abdomen after he was caught in the barbed wire on his
way back to Bangladesh.[67] The investigating police
officer at Meherpur district police station, however, told Human Rights Watch
that Nazrul was hit with one bullet fired from a distance.[68]
An autopsy was conducted, and the report issued by Meherpur general hospital in
Bangladesh states that Nazrul died from “hemorrhage and shock as a result
of gunshot injury which was ante-mortem and homicidal in nature.”[69]

While Nazrul’s family members told Human Rights Watch
that he was operating together with others the night he was killed, no
villagers were able to identify anyone who had witnessed the killing.[70]
The police was also unable to find anyone who was present.

According to Subedar Habibur Rahman, Company Commander of
the Buripota BDR camp, a flag meeting was organized with the BSF on January 22,
2010. The BSF claimed that the deceased, Nazrul Islam, was a cattle trader,
returning from India with a cow and that he had cut a section of the fence and
was trying to push the cow through. BSF also mentioned that Nazrul’s body
was trapped in the fence and that they had recovered a cow from the spot.[71]

Killing of Shahidul
Islam

Shahidul Islam, 37, was shot and killed by BSF along the
Kazipur border in Meherpur district in the early hours of January 15, 2010.

According to his wife Kamala Khatun, Meherpur district
resident Shahidul Islam had spent three years in an Indian prison, detained on
charges of cattle smuggling.[72]
He was released in November 2009, and returned to work as a laborer in Kazipur
village where he lived with his mother, wife, and two daughters.

On January 14, 2010, Shahidul left home at 4 p.m. saying
that he would be back by dinner time. However, Kamala was not surprised when
Shahidul did not return as promised because he was often not back until midnight.
The next morning, Kamala heard that her husband had been killed by the BSF
during the night. She was told that her husband was shot near the Kazipur BDR
camp about 1.5 km from their village.[73]

There are different accounts as to exactly when Shahidul was
killed. Villagers interviewed by Human Rights Watch say they heard gunshots in
the border area around 9 p.m. on January 14.[74] However, according
to the records of a nearby BDR camp, no gunshots were fired until 4:30 a.m. on
January 15.[75]

At a flag meeting between the Kazipur BDR camp and Fulbari
BSF camp held on January 17, 2010, the BSF handed over Shahidul’s body
and allegedly told BDR officials that he was shot while smuggling cattle. The
BDR camp commander told Odhikar that Shahidul was a criminal who had been
released from an Indian jail just a few weeks ago.[76] Shahidul
was buried by his family the same day. Family members and police told Human
Rights Watch that Shahidul had been shot with one bullet in the abdomen. Family
members also say that the body had several bruises and broken bones and that
there was a wound at the back of the head.[77] However, the
investigating police officer, Osman Goni, said that the inquest found that he
had been shot in abdomen, but did not find any signs of torture.[78]

Odhikar and Human Rights Watch have not been able to obtain
further details as to the exact circumstances of Shahidul’s death. The
killing took place at night at a place located 1.5 kilometers from the nearest
settlement. The BDR, police, and villagers all say that there were no witnesses
on the Bangladeshi side of the border.

Killing of Monirul
Islam

It appears that Monirul Islam, a 23-year-old resident of
Chapainobabganj district, was killed by the BSF after he had managed to cross
back into Bangladeshi territory. Abdul Kaiyum said that on January 8, 2010, his
son Monirul worked in the field with him and had dinner with him. At around 9
p.m. Abdul Kaiyum then went to bed. He now assumes that his son then secretly
went out to meet cattle-rustlers.[79]
Abdul Latif, 21, one of those who were with Monirul on the night of the
incident, said:

Some of us including Monirul crossed into India around
midnight to bring cows. We entered into Bangladesh through the Shing Nagar
border around 6:30 a.m., when we discovered that we were being chased by the
BSF. At that time we had already crossed the Chulkani Bil, which is 200 yards
inside Bangladesh territory. The BSF started shooting at us from the no
man’s land. As gunshots were fired, everyone scattered but Monirul fell
to the ground. He had been shot in the chest… Later the BSF tried to
fetch Monirul’s body and take it back to India. But in the meantime, a
lot of villagers had already gathered around, and the BSF had to go back,
leaving Monirul’s body.[80]

Major Nazrul Islam, BDR commander of the 29th Battalion
posted at the Shing Nagar border said that on January 9, 2010, BDR was informed
by villagers that a body had been found at Chulkani Bil. Monirul’s body had
a gunshot wound on the left side of his chest. BDR claimed that Monirul was a cattle-rustler.[81]

Constable Yameen Ali said that on January 9, 2010, the
police found that the BSF had shot a villager and the body was found inside
Bangladesh. It appeared that the BSF had spotted the cattle-rustlers once the
group had already entered into Bangladesh. He confirmed that Monirul Islam was
involved with the cattle smugglers.[82]

Killing of Shafiqul
Islam

At around 4 p.m. on January 1, 2010, 27-year-old Shafiqul
Islam, a resident of Sheetalpur village in Satkhira District, crossed into
India with some others to bring cattle. On January 9, while they were swimming
a river to cross back into Bangladesh, they were allegedly spotted by some BSF
guards, who chased them on a speedboat. While his accomplices were able to
escape with the cattle, they say that they saw Shafiqul caught by the BSF.

One of the witnesses,
Shahadat, met his mother-in-law, Masura Begum, on his return and asked her to
inform Shafiqul Islam’s family of his death. He told Masura Begum that
BSF personnel from Barunhat Camp stabbed and killed Shafiqul Islam and threw
his body in the river.[83]

According to Masura
Begum, the men were crossing the Kalindi River at night with the cows when the
BSF gave chase to them in a patrol boat. Shahadat left the cows in the water
and hid in the bushes at the river bank. He saw BSF guards chase Shafiqul and
heard him shout a few times as the BSF kicked him. He saw some BSF guards stab
Shafiqul with a knife. They were swearing in Hindi. Later the BSF threw him in
the river and left the scene on their boat. Shahadat and his accomplice then
went back, picked up the cows, and swam into Bangladesh.[84]

Shafiqul and Shahadat of Khainja village and another person
were bringing some cows from India. Even though I repeatedly told him not to
go, Shafiqul left the house that day and crossed the Kalindi River. Shahadat
and the other person were able to return alive with cattle from India on
January 9, 2010, but my son did not come back alive….When Masura Begum
told me of my son’s death, I began looking for Shafiqul’s body in
the Kalindi River. On January 13, a woman from Uksa village told me that
Shafiqul’s body was lying on the bank of the river adjacent to the BDR
camp at the Uksa border. I went there with Shafiqul’s wife Anjuara…
After recognizing Shafiqul’s body, I sent Anjuara to the Uksa BDR camp to
inform them.[85]

Mosammat Fatema Begum, who found Shafiqul’s body, said
that it was nude, with a black tube around the chest. There were cuts on the
left cheek and on the feet.[86]

Sub-Inspector Abdul Huq
recovered Shafiqul’s body on January 13, 2010. It was sent for autopsy on
the following day and then handed to the family for burial. The police officer
said that Shafiqul, a cattle-rustler, was swimming back to Bangladesh holding
the tail of a cow, and wearing a tube around his chest, when members of the BSF
ran a speedboat over him. Shafiqul’s body was cut by the blades of the
speedboat.[87] He said that although the
police did investigate the death, the Bangladesh police had no authority to
bring charges against the BSF.

Killing of Abdur Rakib,
a 13-year-old boy

Abdur Rakib, aged 13, was also killed inside Bangladeshi
territory. On March 13, 2009, a BSF trooper had an argument with a boy who was
fishing in the Dohalkhari Lake, barely 20 meters from an international border.
The soldier opened fire, and hit two other boys who were grazing their
buffaloes nearby. Abdur Rakib was shot in the chest and died instantly.
Mohammad Omar Faruq, aged 15, was injured. He said:

I had taken our three buffaloes for grazing in the field.
This field was about 50 yards from the border. It is a common grazing ground
and a lot of other boys were feeding their buffaloes in the same field. There
is a lake called Dohalkhari about 30-40 yards from that field towards the
border. A young boy was catching fish in the lake. Everything was going on as
usual when I heard a sound coming from the lake. A BSF soldier was standing at
the border and loudly talking to the boy who was catching fish. It seemed that
he wanted the boy to give him some free fish. This went on for about half-an-hour
and it started to become very heated. I thought that the BSF soldier might be
drunk.... Soon they started to verbally abusing each other and then the BSF
pointed a gun at the boy. The boy ran and the soldier started to shoot. I think
maybe about seven to ten rounds were fired… I was hit on the right hip
and fell down. Everyone else around me was running to hide, leaving their
buffaloes… I crawled to a paddy field and waited for help.[88]

Toriqul Alam, 22, who was working on his farm nearby, heard the
gunshots and then saw Omar Faruq crying and crawling away. He and some others
ran to pull him to safety. Toriqul Alam says that he also saw that Abur Rakib
was lying on the ground, dead.[89]

Mohammad Abu Bakar, Rakib’s uncle, also witnessed
parts of the incident. He was irrigating his fields when he heard gunshots. He
ran to a paddy field nearby to hide after hearing the first shot. From there,
he saw that his nephew had been shot by a BSF soldier. Later, he saw the
soldier, a black cloth covering his face, carrying a gun in his right hand,
dragging Rakib’s lifeless body by his right leg through the field over a
culvert on the Indian side. The soldier then walked two buffaloes close to the
border so that it appeared that they were brought from India. After that, he
made a call on his mobile phone. A little later, Abu Bakar saw about a dozen
BSF personnel arrive in a van, who took Abdur Rakib’s body away.[90]

A flag meeting was held between the BDR and the BSF on March
14, to discuss the incident. The BSF tried to insist that the victims were
illegal cattle traders, but the BDR personnel presented witness accounts
countering this version. Some villagers who were present during the flag
meeting said that the BSF eventually apologized and promised that the soldier
responsible would be punished.[91]
There is no information on any action taken.

Abdur Rakib’s body was handed over to the BDR after an
autopsy in India. Omar Faruq was taken to hospital.

Indiscriminate Shooting
at Nazrul Islam and Anwar Hossain

Nazrul Islam, a 34-year-old rickshaw puller from Panchagar
district, said he occasionally supplemented his income through cattle
smuggling. On January 5, 2010, he left his home in the evening, telling his
wife that he was going to ferry some cows back from India. He met up with
several others but when they reached the border, they found a heavy BSF
presence patrolling in the area. So they decided to wait, only setting out
around 3 a.m. the following morning. They were very close to the Haptia camp of
the BSF, but failed to notice some soldiers who were hidden in the field:

As soon as the BSF saw us, they started firing without
warning. On that night, the BSF shot at least 30 rounds. I had never
experienced such firing from the BSF before. Hearing the gunshots, all of us
ran to save our lives. I was running towards India. I got shot in my right
hand….I went directly to an Indian cattle trader’s house. The BSF
was looking for me… I called my cousin who lives in India… He came
and took me home and a local doctor put a bandage on my wound…. The next
day, I went to Shiliguri.[92]

Shiliguri is a town in West Bengal and Nazrul Islam was
admitted into a hospital. He remained in the hospital for several days but had
to flee once a doctor discovered that he was a Bangladeshi national and started
demanding bribes, threatening to inform the BSF. On January 21, 2010, he
finally managed to contact some cattle traders who helped him cross back into
Bangladesh.

Anwar Hossain had also run once the BSF opened fire. He was
injured in his right palm. Anwar and two others managed to hide in tea estates
until they were able to contact an Indian cattle trader who helped him find a
doctor to clean the wound and provide medicine. The BSF managed to track them
down at the cattle trader’s house on January 8, but they escaped and
eventually returned to Bangladesh.[93]

Injuries to Rumi Akhter
Nipa, a 12-year-old girl

On October 4, 2009, Rumi, a resident of Nawdapara village in
Kurigram district, ate her usual meal of rice and vegetables at around 8 a.m.
and then went to school at 9 a.m. According to the 12-year-old, when she
reached school in the morning, none of her classmates were present. The teacher
asked her to go fetch her friends so that classes could start. It was Ramadan,[94]
so the girls had probably been delayed.

Rumi found her friends at a pond near the border, between international pillars
no. 1063 and 1064. They were bathing in the pond. Rumi’s maternal aunt
Rubi, whose house is in that area, was also present. Rumi said:

My friends Sheuli, Mina,
Mousumi, Shilpi, and couple of other classmates and friends were bathing in the
pond. My aunt Rubi, whose house is in that area, was there as well. On our way
back to the school, suddenly I felt as if I had been hit by a stone. It was
tingling, sharp pain on my right thigh. When I told my aunt about the stone,
she brushed it off saying that it was nothing serious. But soon my dress
started to turn crimson. My aunt became a little worried and she checked my
thigh and screamed, “You have been shot.”[95]

Rubi called out to her son Faruk who was working nearby. He
had heard the shots earlier, but he thought the sound had come from the Indian
side of the border. He rushed when his mother called him, and found his cousin,
Rumi, had fallen down, with her clothes drenched in blood. He immediately
looked across the border, but he could see no BSF personnel there. He then
rushed Rumi to the hospital.[96]

According to Subedar Abul Kalam Azad, the BDR first learned
of the incident when they saw a group of angry villagers at the hospital where
Rumi had been brought. The villagers said that two rounds were fired by the
Shapara BSF members at Chadnichawk on the Indian side of the border into
Nawdapara on the Bangladeshi side.[97]

Outraged by this apparently indiscriminate shooting, the BDR
contacted Shahpara BSF camp. Two flag meetings were held. On October 5, 2009,
in the morning at 10 a.m, there was a meeting of camp level officials. On
October 7, at 11 a.m. there was a meeting of Battalion commanders. At the flag
meetings, the BSF apologized profusely for the incident. On October 7, at the commander
level meeting, BSF Commander Brajesh, who was in charge of the 151 Battalion of
Shahpara Camp apologized again and said that the person or persons responsible
would be identified and punished.[98]

Attacks
on Indian Nationals

According to MASUM,
hundreds of Indian nationals have been killed by the BSF inside Indian
territory, including in West Bengal state where we conducted our
investigations. These are some recent cases that were investigated by MASUM in
collaboration with Human Rights Watch for this report. These cases provide
evidence that the BSF, in addition to its attacks on Bangladeshi citizens, is
responsible for grave human rights violations against Indian nationals. The cases
also show that there is no accountability for these abuses.

Killing of Basirun Bibi
and Baby Ashique

On May 4, 2010, Basirun Bibi and her six-month-old grandson
were killed when the BSF opened fire at Dakshin Dhadial village in Coochbehar
district. The BSF opened fire after an altercation with the villagers.

The violence occurred due to ongoing tension between
villagers and BSF personnel because of the border fencing by Indian
authorities. As already noted above, because the fence is several kilometers
inside Indian territory, villagers often have to pass through to access their
land. The BSF requires them to submit their identity cards at the border post
if they want to approach the area beyond the fence, towards the border. The
cards are restored once they cross back. This is to prevent illegal immigration
by Bangladeshi nationals.

Early in the morning on
the day Bibi and Ashique were killed, a villager named Salam Ali submitted his
papers and signed his name in the BSF register before taking his cattle for
grazing beyond the fence. But personnel belonging to the BSF’s 113th
Battalion later asked him to return, saying that permission had been revoked.
Salim Ali was joined by other villagers who all gathered to protest against the
BSF’s restrictions. There was a scuffle. A BSF officer then ordered that
his men open fire to contain the protesters in what appears to be
disproportionate use of lethal force. Six persons were injured by bullets.
Basirun Bibi was shot in the chest, while her grandson was shot in the head.
Both were taken to the hospital along with others injured in the firing.
Ashique was dead on arrival, while Basirun Bibi later died in hospital.[99]

Two cases of unnatural death were registered at the
Tufanganj police station. A police complaint was also lodged against the BSF by
Salam Ali. The BSF, in turn, have lodged a complaint of rioting against the
villagers at the same police station. MASUM has filed a written complaint to
the NHRC but as of this writing is yet to receive a response.[100]

Killing of Atiur Rahman

Atiur Rahman, a businessman of Puthiya (Jamtala) village,
had gone to visit his aunt who lives close to the Indo-Bangladesh border on
March 21, 2010. He was accompanied by his cousin, Rahabul Sheikh. They were
returning at around 9 p.m. when they were stopped by two BSF soldiers, both
from the E Company of the 105th Battalion. While Rahabul Sheikh
managed to run away, Atiur Rahman was shot dead. Marks on his body suggested
that he had been beaten before he was shot. The body was recovered near the
Bangladesh border in Murshidabad district.[101]

That night, according to Atiur’s father, Mesher Ali:
“We heard that someone had been shot. It was still before the call for
morning prayers. We were worried, so I sent my other son to check… My son
saw the body. It was his brother.”[102]

The BSF initially refused to let family members view the
body. But later, when they were finally permitted, they saw that Atiur Rahman
had been brutally tortured, his arms twisted and broken. His uncle Alauddin
Biswas, who saw the body as the police removed it, said that Rahman must have
been shot point-blank in his forehead, as he lay on the ground. The bullet had
pierced his head and was recovered from where it was embedded below in the
soil. He was also shot in the abdomen. Alauddin Biswas said:

I went to see the body. It was lying 5-6 kilometers away
from our house. There were police and politicians. We all saw that the BSF had
shot him while he was lying on his back. They had shot him in the forehead and
the bullet had pierced through and was lying a few inches inside the ground. If
he was running away, he would have been shot in the back. They just killed
him… We have no idea why he was killed… We know about the curfew.
People are not allowed to roam around after dark. But why did they have to kill
him? They could have arrested him if they thought he was a smuggler.[103]

The Company Commander of the BSF’s 105th Battalion
stated in his complaint to the police that, while on patrol:

Constable Sunil Kumar
observed 10-15 smugglers along with about six cattle heads coming from the
India side and going towards the Bangladesh side. He also saw a shadow of a
smuggler nearby as such he physically apprehended him. The remaining smugglers
tried to free the apprehended smuggler by attacking and encircling patrolling
party and they managed to get him free. They also tried to snatch Constable
Sunil Kumar’s weapons, however, they could not do so. The patrolling
party challenged the smugglers to stop but the smugglers [sic] party threatened
and encircled the patrolling party. During the course of fighting Constable
Sunil Kumar sustained minor injuries on his right arm and left leg. The butt of
his rifle suffered damage by the dah [scythe] of the smuggler. Sensing
imminent danger to his own life and in self-defense of his life, Constable
Sunil Kumar fired two rounds from his rifle…. Resultantly … Atiur
Rehman … sustained bullet injuries on his forehead and back and died on
the spot. There are no reports of casualties or injuries of other smugglers or
any BSF personnel. On firing, the remaining smugglers along with the cattle
heads ran towards Dihipara village in India ….[104]

Atiur Rahman’s father has lodged a murder complaint
against the police, citing bullet injuries that show that his son was lying on
his back on the ground when he was shot, and that there were injuries on the
body resulting from the torture that was inflicted before he was killed. No
investigation has followed.

Killing of Shahjahan
Gazi

Eighteen-year-old Shahjahan Gazi, of 24 North Parganas
district, was involved in smuggling. On November 10, 2009, he left his home,
telling his family that he was going away to work. The next morning, he turned
up, badly injured, at the home of Panchanan Sarkar, who lives at the edge of
the border in Dobila.

Shahjahan told Sarkar
that he was caught by BSF personnel at around 1:30 a.m. He said he was beaten
mercilessly, and the soldiers probably left him thinking he was dead. But he
regained consciousness and managed to drag himself to the nearest house. By
that time, other villagers had gathered at Sarkar’s house and they
arranged for a vehicle to take Shahjahan to the hospital. However, before they
could leave, at around 11 a.m., some BSF personnel arrived and said that they
would arrange for Shahjahan’s treatment and took him into custody.[105]

The villagers, meanwhile, informed Shahjahan’s family
and they rushed to the district hospital in Basirhat. They found that the BSF
had already reached the hospital at around 1:30 p.m. and that Shahjahan was
dead when the BSF brought him in.

Since Shahjahan was alive
when handed into BSF custody, the villagers went to the police station to file
a murder complaint. The police lodged a First Information Report (FIR)[106] based on a complaint filed by Afsar Gazi,
Shahjahan’s father. According to the FIR, the BSF—instead of
heading to the hospital—took Shahjahan to the Dobila camp, where he was
beaten to death.[107]

However, when MASUM contacted the Investigating Officer
Kartik Chandra Mandal, a sub-inspector at the Swarupnagar police station, he
said that he contacted the BSF, but could not verify the identity of the
personnel who may have been responsible. He also admitted that he was helpless
and could not take any action against the BSF.[108] At
the inquest, it was revealed that the postmortem conducted by government
doctors had found severe injuries on the victim’s arm and back.

Because Shahjahan was Muslim, MASUM also lodged a written
complaint with the National Minorities Commission.[109]
As of this writing, there has been no progress in this case.

Killing of Noor Hossain, a
17-year-old boy

Noor Hossain, 17, was
killed on the banks of River Padma by BSF personnel on September 1, 2009. MASUM
investigations revealed that the boy, a resident of Brahmaottar village in
Murshidabad district, belonged to a very poor family and used to engage in
cattle smuggling.[110]

Witnesses said that when they heard loud voices and
shouting, they ran to the river. They saw that Noor Hossain was being beaten
mercilessly by BSF personnel and lay groaning on the ground, pleading for his
life.[111]
But the BSF kept hitting him, and then fired two shots. Said his uncle Mustafa
Sheikh:

We did not even know he had gone out. We thought he was
sleeping…. At around 10:45 p.m. or so, I heard gun shots. I thought to
myself, ‘They have gone and killed someone again.’ Around half an
hour later, maybe around 11: 15 or so, there was a sound again. That is when
they shot at it his body. After he had died, they shot him in the back…
The bullet exited from the side, not through his body…. Then we heard
people calling out…. They said that Noor Hossain had been killed. I ran,
but the soldiers would not let us go near…. When finally the police
arrived, they let us go near. I saw marks on him. He had been badly beaten.[112]

The next morning, the body was sent for autopsy. The BSF
lodged a police complaint and submitted farming implements, sticks, and two
cows that were recovered near the body. P. Bodhra, a Company Commander in the
BSF’s 105th Battalion told the police that that Noor Hossain,
a smuggler, had been killed by BSF personnel.[113]

On September 5, MASUM staff accompanied Noor Hossain’s
father and brother, Jerman and Salim Sheikh, to the police station to lodge a
complaint. Police officer Kanun Mondal read the report, but returned it to
Salim Sheikh saying that he could not take any steps against the BSF. The
Sheikhs waited for two hours until the Officer-in-Charge, Dulal Biswas, turned
up at the police station. The complaint was handed to Dulal Biswas. He read the
whole report and then rebuked Noor Hossain’s relatives, saying that the
boy had been justifiably killed by the BSF when he was caught smuggling.[114]

Mustafa Sheikh told Human
Rights Watch that the police have recommended the family stop pursuing the case.
“They say, ‘Why do you bother? What will happen to the BSF? Nothing
can happen to the BSF. The BSF will say that the 24 kilometer border area is
under their control.’”[115]

MASUM repeatedly asked the police about their investigation
into BSF excesses in this case, but to no avail. The group than sent a written
complaint to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, but is yet
to receive a response.[116]

Family members said that they have never been summoned to
testify before a BSF court of inquiry, which indicates that no internal
investigation was done to check if the soldiers had deliberately killed someone
in their custody.

Killing of Shyamsundar
Mondal

Shyamsundar Mondal was killed on August 22, 2009, in
Murshidabad. The BSF claimed that its personnel based in the Rajanagar camp had
shot and killed him in an encounter with smugglers at around 7 p.m. at Dadur
Ghat, on the banks of the Padma River.

The family had lost their land due to erosion, and
Shyamsundar Mondal, according to his family members, had apparently taken to
cattle smuggling to earn a living. According to eyewitnesses who were with
Mondal but did not wish to be identified, BSF personnel from the 191st
Battalion caught the smugglers while they were taking the cows into Bangladesh
and immediately opened fire without warning. One of the bullets struck
Shyamsundar in the back, and he instantly fell down. His associates, believing
him to be injured, first started dragging him along as they escaped. But later,
realizing that he was dead, they left his body in a jute field and ran away.[117]

The police, along with
family members, recovered the body on August 23, and it was taken for autopsy.
The police registered a case of unnatural death. On the same day, S.R.
Chowdhury, the Assistant Commandant of the BSF, filed a police complaint
against 40 to 45 unknown smugglers and said that two rounds had been fired to
stop them in their activities.[118] The BSF also handed over
four buffaloes that had been seized during the operation.[119]

When Ramesh Chandra Mondal,
the father of the victim, initially told the police that he wanted to lodge a
complaint against the BSF for killing his son, the officer at the Raninagar
police station said that it would be of little use, since Shyamsundar was
killed while committing a crime. However, with the assistance of MASUM, Mondal
did lodge a written complaint, saying that his son was shot without warning by
BSF soldiers, citing the bullet injury which suggested that the victim was not
in an attacking position when he was shot.[120]
The police registered a criminal case, but as of this writing, there has been
no investigation or arrest.[121]

MASUM sent a complaint to the NHRC, but is yet to receive a
response.[122]

Killing of Sushanta
Mondal, a 13-year-old boy

According to Panchanan Mondal, his
13-year-old son, Sushanta Mondal, was brutally killed by the BSF on July 13,
2009. Sushanta lived with his family in a village almost adjacent to the
Bangladesh border in Murshidabad district. The village,
called Borderpara, sits on the Padma river, and that day, Sushanta, along with
his friends, Prosenjit and Pintu Mondal, went to swim in the river. Several
other villagers were also there at the time, and they later informed Panchanan
Mondal of his son’s death.

My son had gone to the river as usual
along with his two friends. Some BSF personnel approached them on a speed boat
and attacked the boys without any provocation. While the other boys managed to
swim away, my son could not get away. The BSF men kept circling my son with
their boat, and probably injured him with the propellers. I think they did it
deliberately…. He eventually drowned. We tried to rescue his body, but in
vain. However, his dead body emerged out of water on July 14, at around 12 a.m.
I, along with other villagers, refused to hand over the body for post-mortem
until the police lodged a complaint against the BSF personnel.[123]

After calming the protesting villagers, the
police took the body and sent it for autopsy. However, despite promising to
investigate the role of the BSF, the police took no action against them.
“It was evident from the injuries on my son’s dead body that his
death occurred due to injuries inflicted upon him by the BSF speed boats. Yet,
no one is willing to bring those BSF personnel perpetrators to justice,”
said Mondal.[124]

Killing
of Abdus Samad

Saying that
they suspected 35-year-old Abdus Samad of smuggling, several BSF personnel, led
by Commander P. Vodra, forcibly entered his mud hut in the village of Biswanathpur in Murshidabad district on
May 5, 2009. Abdus Samad did not live in the village, but worked as a
day-laborer in Kolkata. However, he had come home after his wife delivered twin
sons, to help take care of the family. Rimi Bewa, his wife, said that the BSF
soldiers were harsh and abusive:

We were asleep
when the BSF came at around 3 a.m. We have a broken door. We heard footsteps.
They entered through the door. One of them kicked me and asked, ‘Where is
your husband?’ They kicked me and used verbal abuses…. My husband
woke up and immediately the BSF personnel started to beat him in front of our
children with rifle butts, boots, and sticks. Then they tied his hands on his
back and dragged him outside the house, still beating him… I was scared
and ran after them pleading that they stop beating my husband, but they ignored
me. Hearing me screaming, some neighbours came out of their house. They also
asked those BSF personnel to stop. The men threatened them too with their guns.
We saw him being dragged off. He was shouting. He was bleeding.[125]

Abdus Samad’s body was later found in
the field and was taken to the BSF camp. Next morning, Rimi, accompanied by her
husband’s brother Abdul Hakim and a village council leader, went to the
police to complain about the assault, abduction, and killing of Abdus Samad.
The police initially refused to register a complaint against the BSF and only
complied when village leaders intervened. Later, the police informed the family
that the BSF had registered a complaint with the police, claiming that he was
arrested for trafficking heroin, and had died in custody because he had
suffered a heart attack.[126]

The BSF apparently tried to persuade the
local hospital authorities to support their claim of a heart attack. However, Dr.
Goutam Ghosh, superintendent of the hospital told MASUM: “I had prepared
myself to conduct the post-mortem but after observing few abnormalities,
injuries on the body, I decided not to proceed with the post-mortem.”[127] He sent the body instead for autopsy by more senior doctors at the Behrampore
New General Hospital.

Mr. P. Vodra, the BSF Commander, who
according to eyewitnesses was present when Abdus Samad was detained, later told
MASUM:

Abdus Samad was arrested with heroin near
the Indo-Bangladesh border by constables Prahlad Roy and Ran Riyauddin. He was
transferred to the Ramnagar BSF Camp as their camp didn’t have adequate
facilities in which to detain a person. However, Samad became ill in custody as
was duly treated at the Ramnagar camp and referred to Bhagabangola Hospital. I
don’t have any knowledge how he died.[128]

Rimi Bewa insists that the BSF is always
abusive, and they had no reason to suspect her husband. “My husband did
not even live in the village,” she said:

He worked as a migrant laborer… The
BSF is like this. They come and always ask who does cattle smuggling. They
abuse the women. People go to defecate in the fields. But in the evening, after
7 p.m. the BSF is patrolling and they stop us. They want shops to shut. They
beat us up, and say, ‘we have the power to do so.’ This BSF abuse
has ruined our peace of mind.[129]

Killing
of Sanjit Mondal, a 17-year-old boy

Sanjit Mondal
was cycling back to his house on March 24, 2009, when he was asked to stop by
BSF soldiers. According to his father, Bhabani Mondal, the soldiers from the
105th Battalion of the BSF then beat up the
17-year-old and shot him in cold blood in front of numerous witnesses:

It must have
been about 6 p.m. in the evening. The BSF is always there, because we live
close to the border. My house is on the main path, so I saw the BSF pass by
like every other day, from our front door. My son had gone to the shop close
by. He was coming back when the BSF asked him to stop. ‘Come here,’
they said in Hindi. My son said, ‘I have to go. I have to feed the
cattle.’ At this soldiers started beating him. My son was shouting,
‘Why are you hitting me? I am not a thief.’ This was happening in
the village. Someone came running and told me, ‘BSF is beating your
son.’ I ran out. He was just 10 yards away. In front of me, I saw the soldier
shoot my son… We were standing there in shock. The soldiers told everyone
to go inside, warning, ‘We will shoot anyone who comes out.’ I went
to the house…. An officer, may be the commander, came and they dragged my
son off the road. Then they surrounded my house. We were very scared. They
called me out. The police was also there. They said, ‘Your son is a
thief…’ I have 39 cows. What is the need for my son to be a thief?
They just left his body lying by the street. They refused to let me move it.[130]

MASUM lodged a complaint to the Governor of West Bengal, the
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, the Director General of the
BSF, and the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police in Murshidabad.
It has not received a response from any of them.

Killing
of Shibajit Mondal

Shibajit Mondal, a
28-year-old resident of Char Rajanagar village in Murshidabad, was smuggling
cattle around midnight on March 14, 2009. According to his associates, four
soldiers of the BSF’s 90th Battalion came upon the smugglers. Without
warning they started shooting at them. Shibajit Mondal and his associates were
not carrying any weapons and thus did not pose a threat to the life or safety
of the BSF soldiers.[131]

Shibajit Mondal was shot in the abdomen and brought to the
Raninagar police station before being taken to the Behrampore New General
Hospital. He was later transferred to a bigger hospital in Kolkata where he
died of his injuries on March 30, 2009. The police registered the incident as a
case of unnatural death, and investigations showed that Shibajit had been shot
in an armed encounter with the BSF. Mondal’s family members filed a
murder complaint against the BSF, but no investigation followed.[132]

MASUM also sent a written complaint to
NHRC.[133]
Based on its complaint, the NHRC sent a notice to the central Home Ministry
which has operational control over the BSF. In June 2010, MASUM received
a communiqué from an Under Secretary of the Home Ministry stating that a
copy of a report from the BSF had been submitted to the NHRC on May 19, 2010.
However, the NHRC has since not taken action or responded directly to MASUM.[134]

Killing
of Peparul Sheikh, a 16-year-old boy

Peparul Sheikh, a resident of the village of
Chakmathura in Murshidabad district, was shot dead by
three BSF personnel of the 90th Battalion on February 19, 2009.
Sixteen-year-old Peparul was with his cousin Aminul Islam when they saw the BSF
constables helping smugglers push through some 30-40 cows into Bangladesh.
Fearing that this large herd of cattle would damage the standing crop in the
field, the two boys tried to chase the cattle away. Atahar Rahman, Aminul Islam’s
father, said:

We have some
farming land near the border and have to take BSF permission to go to the
fields and tend our crops. That day my son Aminul Islam and his cousin Peparul
Sheikh went to the farms in the evening. At around 9 p.m., my son said that
they noticed that some smugglers along with three BSF constables were trying to
smuggle 30-40 cattle to Bangladesh through a border outpost which is situated in
our farming land. This kind of smuggling is quite regular in those areas.
However, the two boys were scared that our crops would be seriously damaged due
to the movement of cattle, so they tried to chase the cows away. But that meant
that they had interfered with the smuggling. Those BSF personnel and smugglers
ignored the boys and accomplished their job.[135]

According to Atahar Rahman, as soon as the
cattle had been smuggled safely across the border, the BSF personnel started
chasing the boys. While Aminul managed to flee, he saw his cousin Peparul being
caught by the soldiers who beat him with their rifles, boots, and wooden
sticks. Then one of the soldiers shot the teenager in the chest. When the
family later saw the body, they found that the bullet had been shot at such
close range that it went through his body and entered several centimetres deep
into the soil.[136]

The next day,
Atahar Rahman went to the police to report the murder of his nephew by the BSF,
but they refused to lodge a complaint. When MASUM contacted the BSF, an officer
said that Peparul was a cattle smuggler and on the day of incident, a cow was
also seized from him.[137]

Indiscriminate
Shooting of Mrityunjoy Mondal

Mrityunjoy Mondal, a resident of Char Rajpur Paschim Colony in Murshidabad, had stepped out into the
fields to defecate in the early hours of June 23, 2009. Mrityunjoy Mondal said:

Smugglers
often operate in this area to take cattle through the border. That day, two BSF
constables were chasing some smugglers. I saw them run through the road next to
my house and hide. It was dark, so I could not see where they had gone after
they ran past me. The BSF men were angry, I think, because the smugglers had
got away. They started shooting. One bullet hit the tree next to me, and the
other struck me in the arm. I fell down unconscious.[138]

Mrityunjoy said he does not remember what
happened next, but his father, Shyamcharan Mondal told MASUM that his son was
dragged by BSF constables towards the border to falsely claim that he was
injured while engaged in smuggling. Mrityunjoy received injuries in his arm,
and his eye was also damaged because of the attack.[139]

The BSF did not bother to check Mrityunjoy’s
identity and simply assumed him to be a smuggler.[140]
Assistant Commandant Bijoy Chowdhury of the Rajanagar BSF Camp told MASUM: “Mrityunjoy Mondal was associated
with smugglers and on the date of the incident about 15-20 smugglers attacked
the constables of the BSF outpost with sharp cutting weapons. Then constable
Mr. Pappu Kumar fired at Mr. Mrityunjoy and consequently he was injured.”[141]

The family
tried to file a police complaint, but the police have refused to investigate
the incident.

[49]Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Section sec 46, http://www.vakilno1.com/bareacts/CrPc/s46.htm (accessed June 10, 2010). (1) In making an arrest the police
officer or other person making the same shall actually touch or confine the
body of the person to be arrested, unless there be it submission to the custody
by word or action. (2) If such person forcibly resists the endeavour to arrest
him, or attempts to evade the arrest, such police officer or other person may
use all means necessary to affect the arrest. (3) Nothing in this section gives
a right to cause the death of a person who is not accused of an offence
punishable with death or with imprisonment for life.

[50]Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials, adoptedby the Eighth United Nations Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, 27 August to 7
September 1990, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1 at 122 (1990).

[121]MASUM interview with Samit Talukdar, sub-inspector of police,
Raninagar Police Station,investigating
officer in both the criminal cases i.e. case no. 486/09 dated August 23, 2009
based on the BSF complaint and case no. 492/09 dated August 25, 2009 based on
complaint by Ramesh Chandra Mondal, father of the victim, Murshidabad, October
21, 2009.

[122]MASUM letter to the National Human Rights Commission, October 21,
2009. On file with Human Rights Watch.

[131]MASUM, fact-finding
report, March 15, 2009; International Secretariat of the World Organization
Against Torture (OMCT), Case IND 231009, “Killing/ Lack of a proper
investigation/ Risk of impunity,” October 23, 2009.